Badass Boss: Rachel Slotnick of Mindstrong Fitness
MEET RACHEL
Rachel Slotnick is the founder and owner of Mindstrong Fitness. Their Inside Out Approach combines the power of the human psyche with physical strength. They focus on changing the story behind your struggle, not on changing YOU. Because, when you change your story, you change your life.
Badassery Magazine sat down with Rachel to get to know her a little better.
TELL US A LITTLE MORE ABOUT YOU AND YOUR STORY?
My passion has always been helping people to light their inner flame-to unleash their best self-though it came out in other paths in my past.
I started as a freelance jazz musician in NYC. I loved watching the audience’s response to music: the way their whole mood could shift in a moment. When I left NYC, I became a middle school music teacher in South Florida. I absolutely love working with kids (and still do within MIndStrong). The thing I loved most about teaching had little to do with the subject matter I taught and much more to do with the life lessons that could be taught through music. My class became the “safe place” for a lot of kids, where they could be heard and understood, simply because we would talk about LIFE. Kids are such a blank slate for building a solid foundation. As adults, so much of our internal work is based around undoing years of wired bullshit limiting beliefs. Kids have way less of this (though it’s interesting and often hurt my heart to learn how much of it some of them do hold at such a young age).
I had always been into fitness in some capacity in my life: I was a runner for years, then got into Barkan yoga, a form of hot yoga. When I found weight training, it was like when you meet the other best friend of your best friend. That moment of: Where have you been my whole life and how have we not met ’til now?! I fell in love. It wasn’t about the muscles or the body…it was about the mental side. It taught me to not be so black and white, to fall in love with the process, to not only not be set back by failure but to learn to love to push myself to failure.
I started inviting teacher friends to work out with me just to show them some stuff. A LOT of teachers are in similar situations where they feel stuck. They work long hours, are underpaid and often not appreciated for how hard they work. Many have gained a lot of weight and just feel…blah…overall. I started to see and hear feedback from these friends, telling me things like, “It’s unreal how good I feel about myself. I’ve become a better mother, teacher and spouse!” Watching that flame reignite inside of them lit a switch inside of me. I knew what I’d been looking for my whole life…and MindStrong Fitness was born.
WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS’S MISSION OR PURPOSE?
To help reignite your inner spark, unleashing your biggest, badassiest life through health and fitness. This comes from training both the body and mind.
WHAT SETS YOU APART FROM OTHER BUSINESSES LIKE YOURS?
When you work in the real estate business and you hear your real estate buddy selling a property that’s a “charming fixer-upper,” you know he’s selling a piece of shit. Similarly, when you understand how health and nutrition truly work, it’s frustrating to hear the BS that’s sold out within the industry. I’m a teacher at my core, so watching companies package information that people can easily do on their own with some education in a way where they become reliant on that company…didn’t sit well with me. I wanted to shout from the rooftops that YOU DON’T NEED POINT SYSTEMS AND PREPACKAGED MEALS! All you need is the knowledge as to how this works.
Most “diets” are based off restriction. I always like to say, “Don’t think about a blue elephant. Definitely, don’t think about a blue elephant balanced on a pink rubber ball.” See, when you tell your mind what NOT to do, it wants to do it more. THAT’S why most diets fail. You haven’t addressed the core issue of WHY you are where you currently are or rewired your brain (’cause it’s allll neuroscience, baby) to form new, healthy habits.
We take what we call an “inside out” approach to health and fitness. Like the best teachers you had growing up, we teach you HOW this works, educating you on the TRUTH behind health and fitness, so, after the learning curve, you don’t need us or anyone else to make this a sustainable lifestyle. We work with you to train your mind along with your body, literally rewiring your brain for new, healthy habits so this isn’t yet another failed crash course diet, but a healthy sustainable lifestyle. Finally, this isn’t some Joe-Schmoe downloadable online course. This is like having a mini MindStrong coach in your pocket (in a less creepy way than that sounds). With weekly Skype check-ins, form cue videos, not only explaining exercises but including common form mistakes to watch out for, and unlimited access to your personal coach via Voxer, we make this personal, ensuring accountability and support every step of the way.
WHAT IS YOUR DEFINITION OF BADASSERY?
Badassery means truly living your biggest, most empowered life. The majority of society has allowed their dreams to dwindle with the responsibilities of adulthood, though we’re pros at making excuses as to why we “haven’t reallllly” traded in our dreams for a ‘responsible life.’” The truth is, when you step out of your comfort zone, learn to redefine fear as a sign you’re on to something big and keep going, when you TRULY live a life that gets you hoppin’ out of bed in the morning, ready to crush your goals and LIVE, THAT’S when you’re truly living life. That’s when you’re a badass.
WHAT IS ONE PIECE OF ADVICE YOU CAN GIVE TO OTHER ENTREPRENEURS?
Train your mind to be like the best teachers you had growing up. So many people spend their entire lives beating themselves up, letting that little voice in their mind call the shots. They are of the belief that if they’re nice to themselves, they won’t push themselves.
If you think back on your favorite teachers growing up, I’m willing to bet they never belittled you. They never spoke harshly to you. They never told you that you weren’t good enough. They may have acted with tough love, but it was always that: love. They set the bar high then helped you, encouraged you, as you set about reaching it.
As an entrepreneur, you’re gonna fail over and over and over again. If that voice is beating you up about what a loser you are every time it happens, you’re gonna quit eventually. Training that voice to speak to you the way those teachers did will turn all those “failures” into what they truly are: opportunities to learn and try another path…which is how success happens.
IS THERE ANYTHING COMING UP FOR YOUR BUSINESS YOU’D LIKE TO TELL OUR READERS ABOUT?
Our 12-week online program, MindStrong Ignite, is open to everyone and anyone looking to unleash their life.
We recently launched MindStrond Bada$$ Bridal Bod, a 12-week online coaching program for brides. There are two stages in life where, perhaps more than any other, women are at a pivotal time: getting married and having a baby (spoiler alert: MindStrong Mommas is launching later this year). Not only do most women wanna look smokin’ in their wedding dress but, more importantly, they’re about to take on new roles: wife, daughter in law, Mrs., etc. There is no better time to learn these empowering mind training tools while getting their bodies in shape to step into their new life like the badass they are.
WHAT IS NEXT FOR YOUR BUSINESS? WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
MindStrong Bada$$ Bridal Bod launched recently and we’re thrilled to have just teamed up with The Knot to get this program to as many brides-to-be as possible all across the country.
We’ll be launching MindStrong Mommas later in 2019 for new moms who have understandably been putting their own needs aside for some time.
There is a shift in consciousness that’s starting to take place. Mindfulness is becoming a buzz word and we truly believe that, with the takeover of social media and technology, people are looking for ways to feel more connected on a deeper level. This will soon trickle into the fitness world, where there’s a serious lack of attention to the mental side of this, which is truly 80% of this game. That’s where we come in.
Connect with Rachel at her website, on Facebook, and Instagram.
You can also download the free guide 7 Keys to Making It Stick here.
Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored post.” The company who sponsored it compensated Badassery Magazine via a payment, gift, or something else of value to write it. Badassery Magazine only recommend products or services we use personally and believe will be good for our readers. We disclose this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
